May Day Mea
Culpa
"There is such a thing as a honeymoon where everybody's
friendly," said Chief Mark Kroeker shortly after taking
over as Portland's top cop. "And then we can get on to business
and we can talk honestly, one to another."
The January speech now looks prophetic. In the wake of
the controversy over the May Day protest, Kroeker's honeymoon
is over--and yet his draft report on the melee, released
Monday, was remarkably candid.
In his report, which may be read at www.teleport.com/~police/mayday.html,
Kroeker admitted numerous shortcomings in the bureau's response--including
poor communications, conflicting commands, lack of training
and some excessive police behavior--and essentially acknowledged
that what has widely been perceived as mismanagement of
the protest by police can be attributed to poor leadership,
training and planning.
"This would not have come out under [Kroeker's predecessor]
Charles [Moose]," one longtime officer said of the report.
For a while, it looked like Lt. Mike Crebs, the incident
commander during the protest, might be hung out to dry.
But the May Day report exonerated Crebs, saying his responsibility
was "too much for one person to handle."
Kroeker did gloss over some aspects of the police response,
including the fact that Crebs' problem should have been
foreseen. According to bureau policy on crowd control, no
lieutenant should command more than four units of 12 officers.
Crebs got stuck with seven. But Kroeker himself signed off
on the field plan, which was crafted by Assistant Chief
Bruce Prunk and Commander Larry Findling. Shortly after
the protest, when asked what changes he suggested, Kroeker
said, "None. I approved; I said, 'This is good.'"
--Nick Budnick
CLASSROOM
MYTHS
Adults often bemoan the state of kids and schools, but
"Educational Success for Youth," a report released Wednesday
by the Portland Multnomah Progress Board dispels some common
myths.
Myth #1:
Kids are out of control:
In fact, juvenile arrest rates in Multnomah County have
declined steadily since the mid-'90s; teen pregnancy is
down also, having dropped 41 percent between 1980 and 1998.
Even the teen suicide rate has declined steadily since 1992.
Myth #2: Families are deserting public schools:
The truth is that 90 percent of kids in Multnomah County
attend public schools, a share unchanged since 1986 and
15 percentage points higher than in Seattle and San Francisco.
(The number of county home schoolers has, however, tripled
in the past decade to just more than 1,500.)
Myth #3: Portland Public Schools shoulders the burden
of
immigration disproportionately:
In reality, while 8 percent of PPS students take classes
in English as a Second Language, three East County districts--Parkrose,
Reynolds and David Douglas--have a greater and faster-growing
percentage of ESL students.
In addition, the report underlines two key measures of
adults' commitment to kids: The rate of child abuse in the
county has risen steadily since 1994; at the same time,
county schools have seen a steady drop in per-pupil spending.
--Nigel Jaquiss
City Hall Striptease
Typically, the job of a mid-level city apparatchik tends--let's
face it--toward the tame side. But in recent weeks, buttoned-down
bureaucrats at City Hall have pitched their pocket protectors,
tossed aside their triplicates, and ponied up thousands
of dollars of taxpayer money to strippers, models, and escorts--all
with the mayor's blessing.
There's no scandal, however. In fact, the city is refunding
a total of $11,200 in fees paid by 65 local lingerie models,
personal escorts and exotic businesses for licenses that
were never issued after Mayor Katz abandoned her ill-starred
attempt to pour cold water on Portland's vibrant sex industry.
"I'm following the instructions of the city attorney,"
says Mike Sanderson of the Bureau of Licenses.
Passed by a 3-0 vote last fall, Chapter 14.44 required
lingerie models and personal escorts to undergo a lengthy
application process, including a criminal background check,
and to keep detailed records of their customers. The ordinance
also required a $200 fee for escorts and models, and $500
for business owners.
But the new rules succumbed to a legal challenge mounted
by a coalition of sex workers, exotic-business owners and
other passionate defenders of the First Amendment, and the
ordinance was judged unconstitutional in March.
The refund is good news for the city's sex workers, many
of whom were wondering what happened to their hard-earned
cash. "I have not heard a thing," says Lafayette, a 23-year-old
lingerie model at the Palace of Pleasure on Southeast 72nd
Avenue, who plunked down $200 for a license last year.
So far, Sanderson has authorized refunds worth $8,750.
(He encourages escorts and models who have not received
a notice to contact him at 823-5139.)
Besides dropping the ordinance and refunding the fees,
the city also agreed to pay the coalition $5,667 in legal
costs. Some local models have also turned their checks over
to the coalition's attorney, Brad Woodworth, who confirmed
that he made money on the case but declined to issue specifics.
"We charged our normal hourly rate," he told WW.
--Chris Lydgate
Ballot Zealots
Oppose Purging
Zealots of the Church of the Ballot Initiative raised a
righteous sword this week against the Evil Empire of the
state and county elections divisions.
Don McIntire, deacon of the anti-taxers, and his populist
ally Lloyd Marbet are suing the state of Oregon, Multnomah
County, Washington County and the city of Portland over
"inactive" voter
status.
Former City Council hopeful Ted Piccolo and state representative
candidate Lewis Marcus have also joined the suit, in part
because a measure they sponsored--one that would have imposed
term limits on city commissioners--was deemed unworthy of
the November ballot when the city clerk found too many invalid
signatures supporting it.
According to McIntire, the measure might have qualified
if it weren't for the new "inactive" status that election
clerks are employing to purge deadbeat voters from the roles.
The new rule goes like this: If someone hasn't voted in
five years, or if their vote-by-mail ballot is returned
as undeliverable, state law says counties must send out
a warning notice, then move the voter's name into the dead
file if he or she doesn't respond before the next election.
Although the new inactive
status is aimed at non-voters, McIntire and crew say it's
a quick and easy way to attack the ballot initiative system,
because "inactives" are disqualified from signing ballot
measures.
"When the government has disqualified a bunch of people
because of this spurious category, that isn't what the freakin'
Constitution says," McIntire fumes.
The Multnomah County Court lawsuit calls for an injunction
against further purging of the voter rolls.
State and county election officials say they're just doing
their jobs, but McIntire doesn't buy it. "They really stepped
in it this time," he says, "because they're so eager to
screw the initiative system."
--Patty Wentz
SO MUCH FOR
THE AFTERGLOW
The sparkle has faded for Art Alexakis, the lead singer
of Everclear, and his wife, Jenny Dodson. The couple called
it quits in December, blaming the demise of their four-year
union on irreconcilable differences.
Alexakis, 38, has been an outspoken critic of deadbeat
dads (including his own). Last fall, he rapped on the topic
for the 1999 Spitfire Tour--a politics and music smorgasbord
sponsored by colleges.com--and even testified before Congress
on behalf of HR 4071, the so-called "deadbeat dad" bill.
Does Alexakis walk his talk? You bet. In addition to a
$700,000 settlement (which includes buying Dodson a house
in Northeast Portland), he agreed to pay $6,000 a month
in spousal and child support for Dodson and their 7-year-old
daughter and to foot the bill for their daughter's educational
and activity expenses.
Alexakis and Dodson will share custody of their daughter,
who will divide her time shuttlecocking between her parents'
respective homesteads every other week.
Dodson will also get a slice of Everclear: She is entitled
to 50 percent of all future royalties paid to Alexakis for
the group's first two albums (Sparkle and Fade and
So Much for the Afterglow) in addition to a cut of
the band's current projects. And yeah, she wound up with
the couple's '67 Mustang and the '66 Jag.
But don't rend your heart for Art's sake. The newly unleashed
bachelor is currently taking a break from the touring grind
but is scheduled to appear on Politically Incorrect
with Bill Maher July 14. And he got the '65 Corvette.
--Kelly Clarke
"Night Cabbie"
BY WILLIE
MILKIS
Willie Milkis is the pen name for the intrepid soul
who drives a night cab in the murky streets of Portland
and writes about it. We'll print his dispatches weekly.
I GET FLAGGED AT QUEST, and three young guys get into my
cab. They all crowd in back. I offer to let one sit shotgun,
but I get a 'No thank you' from the back. That's strange.
Anything strange makes me nervous. I drop one at 47th and
Sandy. The other two give me a location in North Portland,
in an area I don't particularly care for. I look at them
in my rearview. Teenagers, shifting around uncomfortably
and averting their eyes when they meet mine. I know what's
going to happen. I'm going to get them there, and they're
going to stiff me. We pull up between a park and a row of
houses. A cabbie I know got robbed near a park up here recently.
"I'm going to get the money from my house," says one. "I'm
going to take a leak in the park," says the other. They
get out on either side and pass behind the cab. I see them
shake hands. One disappears around the corner, the other
into the park. I knew it. They owe me $15, but I watch them
disappear and don't try to stop them.
Another bulletin from the Department of Shameless
Self-Promotion:
WW reporter Bob Young won third place in investigative
reporting in the Best of the West contest for his article
The Other Face of Tri-Met (June 23, 1999).
Here's what the judges had to say:
The story was moving, graphic, original and had impact.
Reporter Bob Young's exposé focused on the drivers
who transport the 11,500 disabled people in Portland's metro
area. He found that at least 45 of them had criminal records.
One, a convicted murderer, raped a brain-damaged 32-year-old
woman in a state park after taking her to a doctor's appointment.
Nonetheless, the agency failed to conduct background checks
and stonewalled all efforts by Young to obtain public records
and report the story.
Willamette Week persevered and published. Twenty-eight
drivers were fired, policies were changed, and the vulnerable
were protected. This is a classic example of solid investigative
reporting in the face of organized opposition from a government
agency that had something to hide.
Murmurs
sees all,
hears all, knows all
* Participants in the Bike Gallery's June 17 Midsummer
Night City Bike Tour got to see a full moon--about 20 of
them, as a posse of renegade riders crossed the finish line
completely naked. The group, which called itself "Critical
Ass," twice had to break off from the main group to
elude police, but managed to rejoin in time to hear the
cheers at the finish line. "I didn't know people got so
excited about nakedness," one stripped cyclist told Murmurs.
"I guess nakedness is liberating for everyone involved."
* It looks like there's been a breakthrough in the ongoing
feud between the Northwest Children's Theater and
the Neighbors West/ Northwest Coalition over who controls
Northwest Neighborhood Cultural Center. On Monday, Judy
Kafoury, the theater's managing director, and Roger
Vrilakas, president of the cultural center board, sat
down with mediator Sid Lezak. They emerged agreeing
to give the theater a bit more say on its leased space.
The board was set to consider the agreement Tuesday night.
If it doesn't fly, the two sides will meet in court on Friday.
* It was a bad news/ good news week for Marshall Glickman.
The chief of Portland Family Entertainment settled a longstanding
dispute over his personal income taxes with the IRS by agreeing
to pay $33,000 in back taxes. On a brighter note, Glickman
announced the hiring of the iconic former Blazers broadcaster
Bill Schonley, who will handle play-by-play for the
Portland-bound Albuquerque Dukes in the 2001 season.
* For nearly two years Portland investment advisor Bill
Parish has been a lone voice crying in the wilderness,
claiming Microsoft's exploitation of an accounting loophole
allows the company massive tax deductions. It seems Parish
has finally convinced the mainstream press. Several publications
have picked up his cause, most recently The New York
Times, which ran a lengthy page A1 story about the MS
windfall on June 13. "The average person doesn't know about
it," Parish told the Times.
* ... And speaking of the Times: As if they need
any more props, Portland's (well, OK, Olympia's too) often
brilliant, occasionally screechy Sleater-Kinney was
featured in Sunday's paper of record. Greil Marcus, writing
once again for the Times, gushed at length, tossing
in comparisons to Bob Dylan and the Chantels.
* Finally, Larry King is raving about Philip
Margolin. His royal beakness, writing in the June 19
USA Today, said that Wild Justice, the latest
thriller from the local lawyer, was a "page turner" with
a "horrific villain." It should hit bookstands in August.
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